A file photo of Norman Wells shows Imperial Oil’s facility, left. Sahtu Wildlife/Flickr
First People’s Law Report: Cabin Radio – Imperial Oil said some Indigenous governments’ interpretations of federal legislation would render the law “meaningless” as the company fights to shut down an environmental assessment of its Norman Wells facility.
Multiple Indigenous governments have backed the right of the Sahtu Secretariat to call for such an assessment – which it did in September – and the authority of the Mackenzie Valley Review Board to decide what happens next.
Filing a response on Thursday, Imperial reiterated its view that in applying for permits over the past year to continue operating the Norman Wells oil field, it wasn’t contemplating any “significant alteration” to what happens at the field.
Imperial says if nothing is really changing, an environmental assessment shouldn’t be allowed.
What counts as a “significant alteration” is rapidly becoming the heart of the argument, which could have a consequential effect on how long Imperial’s facility remains open – and, in turn, on the local economy and environment.
The relevant federal legislation states that an environmental assessment can’t be ordered if the project held a licence or permit before June 22, 1984. Imperial’s project falls into that category.
But there’s an exception. If the holder of that licence or permit asks for an “abandonment, decommissioning or other significant alteration of the project,” an environmental assessment can be requested.
Imperial hasn’t yet asked to abandon or decommission its Norman Wells site. That leaves “significant alteration” as the other option.
While the Sahtu Secretariat says there have been “many changes in the broad environment” at Imperial’s Norman Wells site, Imperial says it has “operated without material alterations for approximately 40 years.”
In its filing this week, Imperial said a “significant alteration” should be read as something similar to abandonment or decommissioning, not broader changes to the environment at the site.
“Were this otherwise, [the law] would be meaningless as every approved development in the Mackenzie Valley operates under changing social and environmental conditions and could be excluded based on some change in these conditions,” Imperial wrote.
Earlier this week: GNWT, Indigenous governments intervene
The company called on the Mackenzie Valley Review Board to “correct a mistake it made at the very outset” by reversing its decision to initiate an environmental assessment.
Indigenous governments including the Tłı̨chǫ Government have said the Sahtu Secretariat has a treaty right to send Imperial to environmental assessment if it has concerns, whether or not a “significant alteration” is identified. Imperial has disagreed with that interpretation of the relevant laws and treaty.
The review board will now issue a ruling and reasons, though the timeline for that to take place is not clear.
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